Good order levels for Manitou but 2012 unpredictable

In its third quarter financial report Manitou shows it is still enjoying significant growth and orders remain high although the company still thinks 2012 could be unpredictable despite anticipating a 10 to 15% revenue growth.

Manitou's third quarter turnover was up 25% compared with the same period last year and up 38% for the first nine months compared to 2010.

The company reported that orders continued to come in and there was a company wide backlog of 10000 units which is unchanged from the first two quarters of the year.

Jean-Christophe Giroux, Manitou's president and chief executive officer said, "Q3 came in line with expectations, and as the continuation of our H1 trajectory. Order intake is still strong, backlog unusually high and lead times too long. It, however, secures our 2011 landing, and provides some visibility beyond. It is still very difficult to predict the general 2012 outlook from current mixed signals, but we are preparing for further growth, and working on our flexibility.

"Fleet extensions would certainly be challenged first in a nervous economic environment, but 'new business' streams will still be for real, and machines in the field will still need replacement. The latter remains the biggest growth driver at our level, but also the most delicate to forecast, with confidence and finance getting in the middle of users' economics. At this hour, we remain cautiously optimistic, with a 10-15% revenue growth target for 2012."